The Decade Remembered: Historic Pittsburgh Music Venue's Legacy

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Police, U2. Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi. Aerosmith. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Pretenders. Pat Benatar. Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy and the Ramones.

The list of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers who played at The Decade is lengthy.

The corner of Atwood and Sennot streets in Oakland once was the place in Pittsburgh where rock intersected with roll. It was the corner that housed the nondescript bar that became legendary for the incredible performers who played there before going onto become superstars.

The Decade closed 30 years ago on Friday, but its memories are far from forgotten. T-shirts with the bar's logo still are available online.

The Decade operated from 1973 until its closure.

After Dom DiSilvio sold the bar in 1995, The Decade's incarnations included a deli, lesbian bar, produce store, Cumpie's bar and the Garage Door Saloon. The building has been vacant since 2021, when it was condemned.

In addition to the Hall of Fame performers who played there, the bar also hosted the Violent Femmes, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Los Lobos, The Pixies, Joe Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, 10,000 Maniacs, the Ramones, Suzanne Vega and Black Flag.

Gabby Means, DiSilvio's grandaughter, wrote a book about the bar's history.

"I think for a lot of patrons, it encapsulated feelings of youth, captured a moment in time that was special to them," she said.